“Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That’s all, a little place for my stuff. That’s all I want, that’s all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody’s got a little place for their stuff.

This is my stuff, that’s your stuff, that’ll be his stuff over there. That’s all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That’s all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time.

A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you’re taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up.

Wouldn’t want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff.

They never bother with that crap you’re saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That’s what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get . . . more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.”

Ran some shooting stages last night after work with my colleagues from both stores.
An awesome opportunity to learn techniques in a simulated, safe environment…what fun.

Thank you to Travis for setting it up, and bosses Jesse, Ross and the rest of the crew for their experience and support. These folks are very good at what they do.

Needless to say my experience level is much higher with wood weapons than with a handgun at this time but working on it.

Unrelated, but may be a blog spot down the road on the store site.

We see a fair share of folks that don’t keep their ammunition separated on the range and shoot handgun calibers that look very much the same. This is an example of a 40 cal. shot in a 45 cal. firearm.
The casing will expand from the gases to the size of the chamber and can be a bit of a challenge to remove. Just a good example of finding a way that works for you to keep your ammunition separated for the firearm being used at any given time.

Thinking of my time in Nagano today for some strange reason. Maybe it’s the total reverse of temperature. Walking the streets in freezing wet snow; the sounds; the kind people; the distance sounds of monks chanting in the monastery. The small dojo I passed welcoming me to watch from the window? I like the idea of offering prayer to nature….a written word to feel the rain, heat and snow.

Five days ago one of the most talented and wonderful photographers I’ve been blessed to know and call a friend passed. My heart goes out to his wife, Cecile, and daughter, Maya, and for those that called him friend.

John Joseph Fasulo (1949-2014)

Beacon, NY

Born June 14, 1949 in Cold Spring, NY to the late Anneliese Fasulo (nee Cenker), and John Vincent Fasulo, John Fasulo, loving husband to Cecile Fasulo and beloved father to Maya Fasulo, died May 14, 2014 in Croton, NY.

A lifelong resident of Beacon, NY, John attended South Avenue School and following his graduation from Beacon High School, John attended Goddard College in Vermont. He went on to serve in the United States Coast Guard and was stationed for some time in Rockland, Maine. After the Coast Guard, John studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

John’s principal career was as a broadcast TV cameraman. He spent 25 years in both the field and studio for major TV studios including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, WOR and FOX News. John is also known for his role as a producer and videographer of the Hudson Valley Documentary series “On the River”. John had a real passion for photography and often cited David Plowden as an early influence. His extensive portfolio of black-and-white photography evokes a style reminiscent of Plowden’s. John’s photographs have been published in numerous periodicals and magazines, including National Geographic, Trains, Railroad Illustrated Magazine, Modell Eisenbahn, various rail industry publications, and in past issues of Chronogram, and Hudson Valley Magazine. His photographs have been exhibited in many places including The National Railway Museum in Germany, the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, The National Railroad Museum in Steamtown, PA, and Railroadheritage.org.

He cared deeply about his City of Beacon, and contributed his efforts to the Beacon Sloop Club, the Beacon Historical Society, the Incline Railway Society, and the Hudson River Ice Boat Club. John was a lover of all things railroad, which he picked up from his grandfather “Pop” who worked as a machinist on the New York Central Railroad. He was an avid sailor and skier, and passionate about Beacon history, Mount Beacon, the Hudson River, and of course photography.

John is survived by his daughter Maya Fasulo (12 years old), his wife Cecile Fasulo, and countless friends and family, in the Beacon community and beyond.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, May 17th from 2pm-3pm at the DiDonato Funeral Home in Marlboro, NY. A funeral service will follow at the DiDonato Funeral Home at 3pm on Saturday.

A celebration of John’s life and his passion for photography will be planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers it was John’s wish that donations would benefit the college education of his daughter Maya. A fund has been established for this purpose (linked below).

“You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round….. The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours….

Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.”

“Normally, things are viewed in these little segmented boxes. There’s classical, and then there’s jazz; romantic, and then there’s baroque. I find that very dissatisfying. I was trying to find the thread that connects one type of music – one type of musician – to another, and to follow that thread in some kind of natural, evolutionary way.”-Jerry Lee Lewis-

” DESIGN IS THE METHOD OF PUTTING FORM AND CONTENT TOGETHER. DESIGN, JUST AS ART, HAS MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS; THERE IS NO SINGLE DEFINITION. DESIGN CAN BE ART. DESIGN CAN BE AESTHETICS. DESIGN IS SO SIMPLE, THAT’S WHY IT IS SO COMPLICATED. “

“From a withered tree, a flower blooms”

With the Holiday’s just around the corner I just wanted to wish you all good health and a very Happy New Year.
Truly a time of reflection and reconnection with family and friends.

A former colleague and good friend reminded me of a a phrase I would toss out from time-to-time to staff just to get folks thinking in a new direction. I certainly don’t come by words easy and this was passed along to me in a pile of hand-outs at the Poynter Institute.
As I remember it noted the author as being “unknown”, sad that some of the most meaningful words and images are from those “unknown”.
Maybe that in itself is a lesson to be humble.
Over the years I have seen many versions but this seems to come close to what I most believe.

In one way or another photography has been a very large part of my life or my career since the early 1970’s…yes I have been very fortunate.

I do however have a keen knowledge that the art of photography will pale and become dull at the point you make it your avenue of income.

I’ve worked with photographers who felt they were larger than the work they produced. I’ve worked with photographers that just never understood what their work means to those they photograph. I worked with photographers who really got it…and used the craft to help those in need and bring understanding to those around us.